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Chandigarh: Under relentless criticism over accommodating controversial Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh who is facing the allegation of discrepancies over getting the mining contracts under benaami transactions in his former employee’s name, further anticipating furor by the opposition in the vidhan sabha during upcoming assembly session the Punjab Government here today cancelled the e-auction notification for 56 mines, scheduled for June 11.

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The opposition was to make it a major rallying point in the forthcoming session against the Congress party to which the the government was “advised” to postpone the auction of 56 remaining mines, said media sources.

The notification for e-auction of sand quarries was issued by the Directorate of Mining on May 25.

But the official spokesman of the government has come up with its own version of explanation in which it stated that as per the conditions of the tender document, the prospective bidders were required to upload documents and details.

During the scrutiny, it was noticed that some bidders had not submitted the documents as per the conditions laid down in the tender document, he adds.

Furthermore, the spokesman maintained that in the interest of competition and fair play, it was not deemed appropriate to ignore such a substantial number of prospective bidders. Hence after consideration, it has been decided to withdraw the notification in the interest of wider competition.

However, after requisite steps, a fresh tender notice will be issued shortly. The earnest money deposit (EMD) of the bidders will be refunded online by June 13, reports the The Tribune (TT).

The Department of Mining has asked all bidders to upload their documents as per requirement of the tender in future, media reports said.